


You Should Be Careful

by greekowl87



Series: Tumblr Prompts [16]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, MSR, diana fowley induced angst, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 09:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14668431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greekowl87/pseuds/greekowl87
Summary: A two-parter of the same prompt. Scully experiences Fowley induced angst and Mulder tries to clear the air.





	1. Chapter 1

Scully did not know where things stood between them. 

Everything was a mess and that succubus that been emerging from the basement as of late to lure Mulder from the bullpen. She watched for the third time this week when Mulder grabbed his overcoat without saying goodbye to her. Scully licked her lips and choose to say nothing as she usually did and refocused her gaze to CRT, but still let her gaze flicker as she watched his retreating back. This had become commonplace these days. Mulder running off and leaving her alone. They used to take lunch together. They used to do a lot together but that was no more. She tried not to be bitter. Or jealous. Because that was beneath her, well, it was supposed to be beneath her. Mulder was her partner. But that twinge in her heart, in her gut, felt like she was being kicked repeatedly. What did Fowley have that she did not? Scully was still his partner but they had a history. History trumped everything, right?

She eyed the calendar on her desk and it was scribbled in Mulder’s sloppy cursive. “Lunch with M.” Was that today? Did he forget their lunch date that he himself had inscribed on the paper calendar of his life? Of course. This was nothing new. What was new was the stinging and festering pain that it brought, just like that damn bee in his hall. She powered down her computer and grabbed her purse. She would take an extra long lunch today that way she would not have to see him coming back from whatever he was up to with Fowley.

Scully took the metro down to the National Mall, bought a hotdog, chips, and bottle of water, and sat quietly on a bench under a tree. She glanced to her left a saw the Washington monument in the distance. Looking to her right, she saw the U.S. Captial building. The early years, chasing ghosts in the shadows. How much loss? How much suffering? All of it seemed wasted because Mulder wasn’t here sitting with her eating hot dogs on a fall afternoon. What was the point?

Scully’s phone was ringing and she did her best to ignore it, especially when she saw it was Mulder’s number. After ignoring it the first time, it started to ring again. “What, Mulder?” she snapped. “What?”

“I…” It was clear her snapping had caught him off guard. “I was wondering where you were.”

“At lunch.”

“I thought you would be here when I got back.”

“Well, I didn’t feel like waiting.”

She heard some shuffling in the background and him mumbling, “Shit!”

“So I take it you are now remembering?” The iciness in her voice could make his blood freeze.

“I…I’m sorry. Diana had something that needed help consulting with, Scully. I couldn’t say no.”

“I told you, Mulder, that you should be careful around her.”

“She’s harmless, Scully. She’s my ex–”

“Your exwife. I get it, Mulder. It means nothing. She won’t doing anything to hurt you.” She clearly wants to hurt me, she thought miserably. Scully closed her eyes, feeling a tear escape. She wiped it away uselessly and concreted on not letting her voice waver. “We don’t have the x-files anymore. Don’t you remember that?”

“Scully, it’s my work still. She can still help us.”

“She could still help you,” she corrected, her voice faltering. “She can help you. If it was her way, I would be out of the picture and she is likely to get her wish.”

“What is that supposed to mean, Scully?”

“You know damn well what it means. Fox Mulder cannot be shared,” she spat. “I’m not coming back to the office. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Scully, are you jealous? Is that what this is about?”

“I’m not doing this over the phone, Mulder.”

“You shouldn’t be jealous. She’s only helped us!”

“You! She has only helped you! She wants you back and me out of the picture. So she’ll get her wish for the day. I’m not coming back to the office. Go do whatever it is you do with her, Mulder. You forgot our lunch date, which you planned, and cast me off like I was nothing.”

“Scully, don’t do this.”

She ended the call and dropped her phone into her purse with finality and drew out her dark sunglasses as she felt the tears coming faster. Fuck that bitch, Scully thought bitterly. She looked at her half-picked-at lunch and felt her stomach lurch. Gathering everything up, she tossed it into a nearby trashcan. She dug through her purse, searching for her metro card so she could take it back to Georgetown and avoid going back to the office for her car. In the process, she found the Apollo 11 keychain he had given to her on her birthday and she let it drop back in the crevasses of darkness as she steeled herself with thoughts of locking herself away from the rest of the day. It would be best for Mulder. Who gave a fuck about what she felt anymore, Scully thought wiping away a tear as she began to walk to the nearest station, Mulder certainly didn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

Scully dozed throughout the afternoon in her sweats and into the early evening. When she awoke, the sunset had set, twilight lingered and filtered through her Venetian blinds. She stretched awkwardly on the couch and smacked her mouth in a vain attempt to get rid of the cotton mouth she found herself with. She felt dazed and sleepily like she could go back to sleep for another twelve hours. She shifted until she heard the deadbolt of her apartment door. Only one person had a key of her key except for her mother.

“I’m not in the mood,” she croaked grumpily. “That was the whole point.”

“Well, you literally don’t leave me hanging on that explosive ending. I’m a spoiler whore. I need to know what happens next.”

She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and sniffed lightly, catching the most delicious smell. “You brought takeout from Panda King.”

“A peace offering and to make up today. You were rather brash in your behavior today, Scully.”

“You should be careful,” she warned, eyeing him laying out the food on her kitchen table. “I am a bitch if not feed in a timely manner.”

Mulder pursed his lips in thought, watching her sit up on the couch, using it as a barrier between them. “I come in peace. I was an ass for ditching you…”

“You’ve been doing it more lately. Don’t think that I don’t notice.”

“I brought you food. Doesn’t that warrant me at least a sit-down?”

“You forgot today?”

“Why is it such a big deal?”

“Are you that blind, Mulder?” Her voice softened. “You do it more and more. I know she’s…I know you all have a past but as each day passes, that past seems to more of a present fixture. I know we don’t have the work anymore but…” She bit her lip. “Know what, never mind. It’s not important.”

“Scully, the whole point of me coming here is to talk.”

She raised a suspicious eyebrow in question. “Yes, surprisingly, I realized I messed up. I bought a peace offering. Can you at least hear me out?”

She licked her lips. “Dumplings?”

“Steamed?”

“Egg rolls?”

“Three, an extra one for us to spilt, like always.”

Her eyes narrowed in thought and nodded to the cupboard. “Wine glasses are above the sink. There is a chardonnay in the fridge.”

“Does that mean you’ll accept my peace offering?”

“I’m still debating but we might as well eat while I make my decision.”

“Fair enough.”

Mulder transferred the contents of the Panda King buffet and the wine on to her coffee table and sat a little too close to Scully than normal, and it did not escape her attention. She decided to play along with it. She leaned over him, picking up the first wine glass that he filled. “You want to know why? You want to know why I got angry?”

He nodded, watching her sip the wine thoughtfully. “Hit me, Scully.” She eyed him in contemplation. “I was joking.”

“Sure. You want to know why. Mulder, I have always stood by you. I know we don’t have a history like you and Agent Fowley.”

“Answer me this. Are you jealous?”

She let her silence speak for itself as she reached across and took a dumpling, resting her hand on his need. “You hurt me, you know, each time you decide to ditch me to be with her. I know it’s minor but no one gets to share you. Yes, I feel jealous. That may be due to us having never…socialized outside of our work.” He was quiet and let her continue at her own pace. “But I can’t help but feel…” Scully was flustered. “I just thought that after this summer, all that happened in the hallway, I thought we had something.”

“We do, Scully. Why are you saying this?”

“We don’t communicate like we used to.”

“We never communicated, to begin with.”

“Maybe that is the problem.”

He sighed, leaning back, looking up at the ceiling. “You are a scientist and based on the current evidence, what do you hypothesize?”

“Mulder, I made my scientific points this afternoon.”

“Without all the evidence.”

“What evidence?”

Without another word, he reached over and brought her into a shattering kiss, one that he should have given her the previous summer. She felt paralyzed and Mulder deepened the kiss in between them. She felt a bodily disconnection as she was no longer in control and something else possessed her. He broke away and grinned, resting his forehead against hers. “It is you that should be careful, Scully. I don’t like sharing me either. I’m selfish like that.”

She blinked absently as tears came to her eyes and her mind and heart registered the words. “Good. I don’t play nice, to begin with.”

He smiled as she straddled his hips, cupping his face within her hands. She kissed him again. And again. And again. “I have a better idea.”

“What would that be. You were always the smartest between us.”

“Why don’t we finish up what we started with last summer?”

“You really should be careful because I intend to finish what I start.”

Scully’s laughter filled the air as she turned off the living room lights and the Chinese food laid forgotten, a sacrifice on the altar of their complicated partnership.


End file.
